Thread forming gripper

ABSTRACT

A ROTATABLE GRIPPING MEMBER ADAPTED TO RECEIVE AND SPIN TEXTLE FIBERS INTO THREAD INCLUDING A RESILIENT GRIPPER HAVING A MULTIPLICITY OF GRIPPING SURFACES FORMED ALONG THE INTERNAL LONGITUDIANL EXTENT OF AN AXIAL BORE EXTENDING THERETHROUGH AND WHICH RECEIVES THE FIBERS INTO ONE END OF THE BORE, SPINS THEM TOGETHER AND EXPELS THEM AT THE OPPOSITE END AS A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF THREAD.

L. L-. CHABOT THREAD FORMING. GRIPPER Jan. 5, 1971 Filed June 171 1969Il -ll lllll .INVENTORI LEO LCHABOT ATTOR NEY United States Patent3,552,112 THREAD FORMING GRIPPER Leo L. Chabot, Cumberland, R.I.,assignor, by mesne assignments, to Electrospin Corporation, Columbus,Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed June 17, 1969, Ser. No. 833,989 Int.Cl. Dlllh 7/02, 7/92 US. Cl. 5777.4 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA rotatable gripping member adapted to receive and spin textile fibersinto thread including a resilient gripper having a multiplicity ofgripping surfaces formed along the internal longitudinal extent of anaxial bore extending therethrough and which receives the fibers into oneend of the bore, spins them together and expels them at the opposite endas a continuous length of thread.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION same time one which would spin high qualitythread. A

few such gripping members have been of the type utilizing opposed platesbacked by sponge rubber, a vertical member within a gripper body havinga vertically disposed helix groove about its exterior surface, also apair of U shaped elements disposed in interlocking engagement which aremovable toward and away from one another by centrifugal force. Even ahollow needle was tried by deforming it to an S or V shape and thenmolding it within a base material of polyurethane or the like.

A further form of gripping member comprises a plurality of centrallydisposed and vertically extending wire members within a gripper bodyhaving the upper ends thereof disposed so as to form a funneled openingfor receiving the fibers to be spun.

The rotatable gripping member according to the instant inventionprovides a positive means for receiving fibers to be spun as well asradially gripping them while spinning them into thread and at the sametime causing the spun threads to move longitudinally through an axiallydirected opening in said member. The cooperating components of thisgripper member are of such a type and so arranged that as well asproviding a desired life expectancy thereof, it produces a very finequality of thread that possesses a suflicient and acceptable amount oftensile strength.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The gripping member of the present invention isrotatably supported Within a spindle housing unit that is removablyattached to an open type spinning frame. The gripper includes asupporting body portion with a funneled opening on the top thereof forreception of fibers to be spun. The gripper itself is carried is carriedwithin the body portion and is cylindrical in form. It is fabricatedfrom a base material possessing suitable resilient characteristics.

An axially directed aperture extends through the gripper and the upperend thereof defines a funneled opening which is adapted to communicatewith the funneled opening in the body portion thereby providing anextension of the latter opening.

A multiplicity of wear resistant particle elements are dispersed withinthe resilient base material with some at least thereof communicatingwith the axially directed aperture. Those particles which communicatewith this aperture provide surfaces which during rotation of the gripperare adapted to receive and grip the fibers as they are spun into threadwithin the aperture as well as to assist in advancing said threadthrough the latter.

It is a specific object of the invention to provide a rotatable grippingmember for use in open end spinning which will possess the qualities ofrelatively long life along with the ability to produce acceptable threadof desirable tensile strength.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation andpartially in section of a spindle housing showing the gripping memberaccording to the invention assembled therein. FIG. 2 is a plan view ofthe spindle housing shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a sectional view in sideelevation of the gripping member showing the multiplicity of particleelements dispersed within the resilient base material, and FIG. 4 is asectional view taken along line 44 in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Now referring to the figures ofdrawing, enough of a spindle housing used in open end spinning is shownin FIG. 1 to serve as a basis for a detailed description of theinvention applied thereto. 7

In FIG. 1 the spindle housing is identified generally by numeral 10 andincludes a body portion 11 with a cap member 12 assembled to the upperend thereof.

A spindle 13 is rotatably supported within the body portion 11 by meansof anti-friction bearings 14 and 15 which are fixed within a bore 16 ofsaid body portion. The spindle adjacent its upper end is journalled inbearing 14 and adjacent its lower end in bearing 15.

The body portion 11 as shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a horizontallyextending opening 16' which communicates with one side thereof. Thisopening is directed inwardly to the extent of exposing a portion of thespindle 13 adjacent its center which is of a larger diameter than itsupper and lower shank portions extending therefrom that are journalledin bearings 14 and 15.

This larger and generally centrally disposed portion of the spindle isdepicted by numeral 17 and provides a means for its rotation throughfrictional contact with an endless belt 18. Belt 18 is continuouslyrotated by pulley elements forming a part of the spinning frame notshown.

Spindle 13 has an axial bore 19 and the upper end thereof iscounterbored as at 20 for receiving the gripping member according to theinvention that is identified generally in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 by numeral21.

A fiber receiving member 22 assembles on the upper end of the spindle 13and is adapted to rotate with the latter by means of a key 23 (FIG. 1)which extends horizontally from a slot 24 (FIG. 3) in the grippingmember 21 through a slotted opening in said spindle (not shown) andthence into a slot 25 provided in the lower end of said receivingmember.

The upper end of the fiber receiving member is positioned within acentral opening 26 provided in the cap member 12 and includes a funneledaperture 27 which is adapted to receive the fibers to be spun andpresent them to the gripping member 21.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the gripping member 21 includes a cylindricalgripper body 28 with an integral tapered cap portion 29 forming one endthereof. This tapered cap portion includes a centrally located opening30 and being tapered as illustrated in FIG. 3 it provides a continuationof aperture 27 with which it communicates.

The gripper is depicted by numeral 31 in FIGS. 3 and 4 and being moldedinto cylindrical form from any suitable rubber-like resilient basematerial it is adapted to assemble within the gripper body 28. Thisgripper is provided with an axially directed aperture or bore 32extending therethrough with the upper end thereof terminating in atapered opening 33 that is disposed in contiguous relation with theinner portion of opening 30.

A multiplicity of wear resistant particles 34 (FIGS. 3 and 4) aredispersed within the base material with some at least thereofcommunicating with the bore 32. Actually these wear resistant particlesare molded within the base material and those which communicate with thebore 32 have a greater portion of their area bonded to said 'basematerial.

These wear resistant particles 34 are generally spherical inconfiguration and can be of metallic or non-metallic composition such asceramics, steel spheres, glass, carborundum or the like.

Experimental trials of hollow ceramic Micro-Balloons manufactured byEmerson and Cummings Inc. of Canton, Mass. and of steel spheresmanufactured by Kleine- Ferris Inc. of Boston, Mass. indicate suchmaterials to be well adapted for obtaining the desired characteristicsin a thread forming gripper. Such trials have also indicated that themost advantageous size of these wear resistant particles fall within therange of .000,030 inch to .100,000 inch diameters.

Although the drawing shows the wear resistant particles as beingdispersed throughout the resilient base material, it is preferable thatas many as possible be disposed so as to communicate with the axiallydirected aperture in the gripper and for substantially the completelongitudinal extent thereof.

In operation, an electrostatic field is set up above and in the area ofthe funneled aperture 27 of the fiber receiving member 22 by means of anelectrode 35 as shown in FIG. 1. This electrostatic field aligns, guidesand attracts the fibers shown at 36 (FIG. 3) toward and into thefunneled aperture 27 of the fiber receiving member. The fibers continueon through opening 30 and into the tapered opening 33 of the gripper 31and these by means of the rotary movement of said gripper becomeentangled with the end of a so-called seed yarn or thread 37 which waspreviously inserted into the bore 32 to facilitate starting and spinningof the fibers.

The wear resistant particles which communicate with the bore 32 providesurfaces for radially gripping the fibers as they are twisted and spuninto thread and are also effective in causing the newly formed thread tobe moved downwardly and beyond the lower end of the gripper and housingtherefor where it is taken up by a suitable means.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu sive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

I claim:

1. A rotatable gripping member for receiving textile fibers and spinningthem into thread comprising (a) a gripper body,

(b) a cylindrical gripper of resilient base material adapted to besupported within said gripper body and including an axially directedaperture extending therethrough,

(c) a multiplicity of wear resistant particles dispersed within saidcylindrical gripper with some at least thereof communicating with saidaxially directed aperture to provide gripping surfaces for twisting saidfibers into thread as they pass therethrough.

2. The rotatable gripping member according to claim 1 wherein saidgripper body includes a funneled end portion for receiving said fibersand directing them to said cylindrical gripper.

3. The rotatable gripping member according to claim 2 wherein one end ofthe axially directed aperture in said cylindrical gripper terminates ina configuration of conical dimensions and forms a continuation of thefunneled end portion of said gripper body to provide a further fiberguiding surface.

4. The rotatable gripping member according to claim 1 wherein saidmultiplicity of said wear resistant particles are molded into saidresilient base material.

5. The rotatable gripping member according to claim 4 wherein the wearresistant particles communicating with said axially directed bore havethe greater portion of their external surfaces bonded to the basematerial.

6. The rotatable gripping member according to claim 1 wherein said wearresistant particles are metallic composition and of a generallyspherical configuration.

7. The rotatable gripping member according to claim 1 wherein said wearresistant particles are of non-metallic composition and of a generallyspherical configuration.

8. The rotatable gripping member according to claim 6 wherein said wearresistant particles are hollow and the diameters thereof fall within therange of .000,030 inch to 100,000 inch.

9. The rotatable gripping member according to claim 5 wherein said wearresistant particles communicating with said axially directed bore aredisposed in close proximity one with the other along the longitudinalextent thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,773,282 12/1956 Backer5758.93UX 2,936,567 5/1960 Russell et al. 5777.4 2,936,570 5/1960 Arthuret al. 5777.4X 3,066,473 12/1962 Maeda 5777.4 3,372,537 3/1968 Poull etal. 5777.3X 3,394,540 7/1968 Bentov 5777.4X 3,440,811 4/ 1969 Fukuta etal. 57-5889 FOREIGN PATENTS 880,239 10/1961 Great Britain 5758.89880,963 10/1961 Great Britain 5758.89

DONALD WATKINS, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

Dedication 3,552,112.-Lc0 L. Chabot, Cumberland, RI. THREAD FORMINGGRIP- PER. Patent dated Jan. 5, 1971. Dedication filed Mar. 23, 1977 bythe assignee, Electrospin Corporation. Hereby dedicates to the Publicthe entire term of said patent.

[Ofiicz'al Gazette May 10, 1.977.]

